Cigarettes Seized On Way To Indians

State Cracks Down On Tax-free Sales

State Seizes Cigarettes Destined For Indian Store

COLCHESTER — State authorities seized a cigarette delivery truck destined for the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian reservation Wednesday, and said they would intercept all future shipments of contraband cigarettes to the tax-free smoke shop.

At the order of Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., agents from the state Department of Revenue Services and state police troopers stopped the truck near the state police barracks on Old Hartford Road, about 5 miles from the heavily armed Indian reservation on Stanavage Road.

"I will order additional seizures and other law enforcement activity -- as required -- to end the flouting of Connecticut tax laws," Weicker said. "If there are no cigarettes, there are no sales."

About 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, a state trooper posted a silver-and-black sign at the head of Stanavage Road warning customers that the purchase of cigarettes was illegal and they could be subject to arrest and have their vehicles confiscated. Weicker issued a similar stern warning.

But for now, the interception of the cigarette supply seems to be the state's preferred tactic.

At the reservation on Stanavage Road, tense members of the tribe continued to guard their 106-acre property with semiautomatic weapons as a steady stream of customers arrived to buy cigarettes.

"This [seizure] is a completely illegal act that the state has taken," said MoonFace Bear, the tribe's leader. "The cigarettes belong to the Golden Hill Paugussett tribe. This lawless act violates the tribe's rights to regulate its trade and commerce."

Seized were more than 5,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes, including 2,195 destined for the Colchester reservation, said New London State's Attorney C. Robert Satti Sr.

All of the cigarettes were untaxed and all were contraband,

authorities said.

The cigarette shipment was part of a trade agreement between the tribe and the Mohawk Indians, whose reservation straddles the border of New York and Canada. As such, it does not involve the state of Connecticut or its taxing agencies, MoonFace Bear said, and the tribe will initiate legal action to recover its property.

Since April, residents from across the state and from surrounding states have been taking advantage of the tax-free cigarettes being sold on Stanavage Road at $3 to $9 a carton less than at most retail outlets.

Last week, the state tax department obtained an arrest warrant for MoonFace Bear, but there has been no attempt to go on the reservation to arrest him. MoonFace Bear has said any attempt to enter the reservation to confiscate cigarettes or arrest tribe members will be viewed as an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation.

He repeated his warning that the tribe members would fight if the need arose.

"These are our borders," he said. "We are not going to give up our sovereignty without a fight."

At least one of the Indians now on the reservation is a veteran of the shooting between federal agents and Mohawk Indians in New York and Canada two years ago, Indians at the smoke shop said.

Wednesday's arrest and seizure was the first time the state had taken action against the smoke shop outside the courtroom.

Authorities had been following the truck, owned by Day Wholesale Inc. of Tepper Lake, N.Y., but they declined to say where the surveillance began. They had planned to stop the vehicle as it neared the reservation, but decided to pull it over as it neared the barracks, said A.J. Janschewitz, executive assistant to the state revenue services commissioner.

The driver, Michael J. Brownell, was charged with possession and transportation of untaxed cigarettes, a felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. He was also charged with the sale of cigarettes without a license, a misdemeanor.

He was released on a written promise to appear in Superior Court in New London, but no further court information was available.

Bob Helms, president of Day Wholesale, declined to comment on the situation.

Janschewitz said his department "has been receiving complaints for months from the people who are losing their shirts to somebody who is bootlegging."

Although the Paugussetts are a state-recognized tribe, Satti said he does not consider MoonFace Bear a member of the Paugussett tribe because his father and half-brother have banished him. The tribe is not federally recognized, but the Indians have argued in Superior Court in Bridgeport that the state cannot tax trade and commerce on Indian land without specific treaties.

Satti said Wednesday that he would not order police to go onto the reservation.

"I believe the next step is to start arresting citizens [who buy cigarettes there]," Satti said. He declined to say how or where those arrests would be carried out.

And in his harshest warning yet, Weicker warned state residents not to buy their cigarettes at the reservation.

"To aid them [police] and to limit to an absolute minimum the risk they face, I warn any Connecticcut citizens who purchase illegal goods during this difficult time that they do so at their

own peril," Weicker said.

But customers coming into the shop Wednesday did not seem concerned with the governor's warning.

"I just think they should give the Indians a fair break. I come here to save money," said Patricia Botticello of Lebanon, who walked past television cameras with her small daughter to buy cigarettes.

She said she was not worried that she would be arrested.

Neighbors and customers said they were planning to attend a rally at the reservation Saturday at 2 p.m. to support the tribe's rights. Lawyer William Kunstler, who has represented Indians in other high-profile cases, is scheduled to attend, tribe members said.

A few miles away, owners of gasoline stations said they were relieved that the state was finally taking some action.

"We are paying taxes, everyone should be paying taxes," said Joseph Samaha, owner of Sunoco 85. He said his cigarette sales have been off by 50 percent since the Indians' smoke shop opened.